We Keep Choosing Fake Fixes Instead Of Jesus

Real hope does not always feel comforting. Sometimes it feels like a threat, because it means something has to change.

Jonathan Locklear and Tyler Edge walk through John 5 and the story of the man at the Pool of Bethesda, surrounded by suffering and clinging to a legend that never seems to deliver. We explore why that scene is so painfully relatable: we park our lives beside “pools” that promise relief while keeping us stuck. Whether it’s money, image, control, addiction, secret sin, or a spiritual shortcut, counterfeit hope is familiar and predictable, even when it is destroying us.

We also wrestle with the deeper question behind Jesus’ words: “Do you want to be made whole?” Not “Do you want your circumstances improved?” but “Are you willing to surrender control?” That leads us into the fear of the unknown, the comfort of slavery, and the way identity can get tangled up in our struggles. We talk plainly about why the prosperity gospel misses the point, why God often prioritizes spiritual healing over physical relief, and how “My grace is sufficient” becomes a lifeline when life does not change the way we want.

The episode closes with a story about costume pearls and real pearls that captures the heart of discipleship: God does not take to impoverish you, He takes to replace what is fake with what is lasting. Listen, share this with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review that helps more people find the show. What is the one thing you know God is asking you to let go of?

Transcript

Welcome And John 5 Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to the Faith Works Podcast, where we believe we have a biblically informed faith that works for every day, for everyday believers like you and I. I am your co-host, Jonathan Locklear.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

And I am Tyler Edge. Hey, buddy, good morning. It's good to be here with you, my friend. Likewise, man. So this past Sunday, you talked about John 5. We talked about this man who's uh a cripple and he's by this pool in Bethesda, right? And he's been there for all these years and he's just waiting on something to change, but nobody's ever there, nobody picks him up, nobody-eight years. Exactly. And then somebody else comes along, right? Somebody who can actually change things for him. So why don't you give us kind of a summary? What exactly happens here in John chapter 5?

SPEAKER_00 0:35

So it's one of the feasts that Jesus comes into Jerusalem for. He spends most of his ministry in the northern part of Israel, up in the Galilean region. And he comes to town as every Jewish male has to do, a couple times a year for these various feasts. By the way, this is this is Jesus demonstrating that he keeps the law. He's coming here in observance of the law of Moses, though at the same time he's going to break the Sabbath law later here, right? On this, in this on this day. And so he is both the fulfillment of the law, he obeys the law, but he's bigger than the law. Right. Right. And he meets this man, this this pool, and the Bible says in John 5, this was a portico, a series of porches that the lame and the cripple, the infirmed, or where we get our English word invalid, okay, is is is drawn from. It was basically a nursing home. It was a pool side nursing home for people who no one else knew what to do with. And so there was this mythology around this water is a natural spring-fed body of water here, and that it would be bubbled up occasionally. And it was kind of on the line of, you know, how old faithful here in America, you know, it it bursts out of, you know, Yellowstone on a timer. And so regularly, at some intervals of the year, well, it would bubble. And no doubt some geological anomaly. And the the the Greek mythology around it was that it was an angel stirring up the water. And there was blessing

Bethesda Myths And A False Hope

SPEAKER_00 2:10

for anyone who could get into the stirred up water before it quit bubbling. And uh, whoever was first got healed. And this was all they had. This is all they're clinging to. Now, we don't have any evidence that anyone ever got healed, right? We have no evidence that any anything substantial ever happened here, but they lay here and they lay waiting for something that's not gonna do it.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

And Jesus comes by, sees them all, approaches one individual, kneels down, and just asks him this incredible question do you want to be made whole? And it's so shocking, it's so astounding. And this is where this is where the account comes. Jesus is portraying his divinity. He knows the man, never met him, knows he's been crippled like this, and exactly how long he's been crippled like this, and has the ability to do something about it with his very words. And so this is another of John's attempts to explain and showcase the deity of Christ.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Yep. So, in this, one of the things that kind of stood out to me is it's just, I mean, it's simply very relatable, right? You have all these people who are sitting around and they're waiting for something. They have their hope in something that is so very hopeless. Uh, something that, as you said, we have no recorded history that there was ever actually anybody healed by the thing that they were all there for. Right. And then you have true hope that comes walking in, right? And it comes and it addresses this one man. Sure. But it just makes me think, and once again, I always try, as you do with this, to apply this to myself when I'm reading this, right? But I think of all the things in my life where there's true hope that's available to me. Right. And then I'm over there turning to the things that offer me no hope whatsoever, right? Offer me no change.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Nothing has changed. People are still reading tarot cards, they're still going to mediums and psychics, right? They're still trying to live forever with cryogenics and various ways that you can stop the aging process. Yeah. We're starting, we're trying to stack up enough money. We're trying to, you know, be handsome enough, smart enough, athletic enough, beautiful enough. And of course, none of it's going to do it.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Yeah. That was one of the things that I was specifically going to ask you, actually. I said, what are the fake solutions that people are turning to, despite there being no change, no results? You just listed so many of them.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

But what do you think was mine, Tyler? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

These are the ones that I've, you know, and I go, you know what? That just didn't do it. And I'm right, I'm realizing, like all the rest of our listeners, is that nothing will do it except Jesus. Yeah. Of course I'm being facetious, but everyone listening right now can nod their head right now and say, there's a list of things that I've tried that uh availed me nothing. Right. And we know in our heart of hearts that nothing will do it except Jesus. But it doesn't stop us from, well, from trying, right? Anything but Jesus, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Yeah. Right. Why why do you think that is, though, is

True Hope Walks In With Jesus

SPEAKER_01 4:50

my question. Why do you think do you think are we are we scared of there actually being a change? Are we scared of there being an expectation upon us in that? I mean, why anything but God?

SPEAKER_00 5:01

We're rebels at heart.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

And every one of us is wrestling with this subconsciously or consciously, who's going to be in charge? Me or God, me or the creator. And we would really like in our heart of hearts to dethrone him and put ourselves on that seat of authority. It started with Adam and Eve, and it's been the MO of every human being born of a woman since the beginning of time. And Jesus comes and says, Who's going to be in charge? Are you going to heal you or am I going to heal you?

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Because I can. It's a foregone conclusion. The power of God is sufficient. And we are sitting here going, Well, if I can get in that water, I'll try that instead.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Yeah, that's true. Let's try temptations. And I can tell you in my personal life, and and this is by the grace of God speaking in the past here, but I've had to have many times where I've come to the Lord and I've had to say to him, Father, in this moment, I want this thing more than I want you. This sin that I enjoy, right? This this ailment. Because you talked about on Sunday as well. You were very clear that there's certain ailments that are that are done to us. There's certain issues that are done to us. And then there's, and for me, and even for you, and I think for most people, the ailments that we place upon ourselves, right? The things that we choose, right? In moments I've had to be honest with God and say, Father, it breaks my heart in tears here, right? But I know I want this thing more than you right now. Well, that's the dilemma for every person.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

And I think that the listener right now knows that there is this possible power that's available. Oh man, but we really don't want to let go of what we know is comfortable, even if it's, you know, to no avail, even if it's like not real. Yeah. Even if it's temporary, to let go and let God be in charge, that's huge. That's scary, even. Right?

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

That's scary. And so this is why we're not interested in it.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yeah, you were talking about we see it at the very beginning of the Bible, right? With Israel and Egypt. Hey, it was so much better when we were slaves, right? It was so much better. We were fed, we were protected, we knew where our meal was coming from. It was so much better than God sitting there and saying, What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Moses sends God sends Moses and to lead the people out, and they're like, excuse me, what? Like, we're not slaves, we're citizens. Okay, you're slaves. Right. Wonderful. Yeah. When's the last time you got paid? Well, and they go, but it's it's beautiful scenery here. We live in this metropolis, you know, there's a lot that's being done for us. By the way, it's comfortable to be a slave.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

If you're a slave, then someone else is responsible for you. Right. Moses said, no, God said to get out of here and to be self-sufficient. Self-sufficient? That's not something that a lot of people are interested in. Yeah, scary. Because if we leave Egypt, metaphorically here, we're going to be the ones that are going to have to what? Feed ourselves? Right? Protect ourselves, guide ourselves? Well, yes and no. You say God's going to be the one that does it. Right. He's going to be the one that feeds us and protects us and guides us. However, it's out there in the wilderness. Yeah. And that's unknown. And so it's like, what if I do get healed? Do I want to be made whole? Yeah. Should do I want to get out of here? I mean, in one sense, that sounds great. In another sense, that's terrifying.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Like I have seen people who have lived on social government welfare. And, you know, we have these conversations. Well, how are we going to get out of this? How do we, how do we move from, you know, being provided for to providing for ourselves, for our family? And the answer oftentimes, I mean, oftentimes, is I don't have any inclination to that at all. We took our mission trip downtown Detroit several years ago when I was the youth pastor. And we served at the men's mission. We fed people meals. We painted. We did various other, you know, labor jobs. And then I instructed the kids to get a plate of food once they had served and go sit down with these residents

Why We Choose Anything But God

SPEAKER_00 8:45

there of the mission and to just talk and be interested and be curious about them and just love on them. But I really wanted the kids to be affected by this. I wanted them to see kind of how. And they all asked the same question. It was very natural, you know, in a roundabout way, how'd you get here? What brought you to a place where you're living at a mission? And then the next natural question is, and what's the next steps to get out of here? All of them asked the same question, and all of them got the exact same answer. Uh they feed me here. I got a bed here. I don't want to get out of here. Like there was no ambition for anything more than that. And that was the general consensus of those living in the Detroit mission. Right. That's not to poke fingers at anybody, but that's the human condition. If you'll take care of me, I'm gonna take care of myself. Therefore, it's easier for my pornography to take care of me. It's easier for my alcohol to take care of me, for my drugs, for my friends, for my affair to take care of me. It's easy to lean on those things as opposed to Jesus coming by and saying, Do you want to be healed? Because like I'm right here. Cause like I'm right here today.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

And the man goes, I got all kinds of reasons why I can't. I ain't got no friends, I got no help. I my my parents, my the government, you know, it's like all he has is excuses. Right. And most people are in the exact same boat. Jesus is right here. And the possibility of freedom, healing, regeneration, wholeness, it's scary. Yeah. It's scary. And the the people of Israel in Egypt, they were not interested in leaving. Even when they leave, they go out and they go, Oh, oh, for Egypt, man, the garlic, the leeks, the cloves, the onions. It was so good back there. In slavery? Right. Yeah. Because the the Canaanites and the Emirites and the Hittites and the Jebusites, the Mosquitobites, and the Termites, they're all out here in the wilderness trying to get us. And I remember the good old days when we could just be slaves in Egypt, but it was familiar, it was safe. And I just think that this guy in John 5 had given up on that. Yeah. He had no ambitions to be healed or helped, even. And so now he just sits in his what I called Sunday and institutionalized misery. He's you know, he's a slave in a sense in his own mind. This is my lot, and I'm never gonna be any better. And this is just how I'm gonna live and how I'm gonna die. And I can hope for something marginal, like, you know, maybe a better mattress one day to lay on or something, but nothing more than that. And I think the devil would love to have us just complacent and confident and comfortable in our substandard living where Jesus uh did not intend for us to live right there.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Yeah, I've I have so many thoughts going through my head right now. But uh, one of the main words that you said there that I was thinking of, because one of my questions for you was simply this why do you think that the man responded with excuses instead of just obedience, which you just addressed a moment ago. But one of the words that stuck out to me there you said is the unknown, right? The the immense fear of the unknown. Yeah. I think that can be scary for us, right? You use the we're talking about us being slaves, and I picture us as though we're in a cell that's already been opened, right? And we're just nervous to push those doors open. That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

I heard about a man, it was like in the early 60s, he was a millionaire. And he went around and he gave checks to homeless people for like a million dollars. One time it was five million dollars, and wrote it out to them, and none of them, none of them took him seriously. None of them went even went to a bank to say, is this legit? Yeah, right. And it's like the promise of Jesus comes to this guy right here, and he's like, I can't even fathom that what you're doing is is legitimate. Yes. And the the grace and the goodness of God is that it's beyond our wildest expectation. It's like, I pray that scripture at the end of Romans chapter eight, now unto him who's able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. And it's so far above what we could even ask or think, and that's the goodness of God. And so we just settle for what we can ask for, yeah, and what we can think and what we can imagine. And so this guy

Comfortable Slavery And Fear Of Unknown

SPEAKER_00 13:05

says, I can't be healed because of this, this, and this.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Yeah, absolutely. Question for you here is this it says, What are some ways that we can become comfortable, or we can become used to our own struggles, like the man at Bethesda? Um, one thing, real quick for me, is and I've talked about this before, and this is something that I struggle with as well in the past, is I find there to be a very large difference between when people say that they're struggling with something or when people label themselves as that something, right? So there's a difference between you struggling with alcohol and then you labeling yourself as an alcoholic, right? Correct. What I mean by that is not that it's like a bad thing to address, hey, I'm an alcoholic, I need to fix this. There's a lot of people who I've heard before just say, Well, it's just who I am. You know, I'm an alcoholic, I'm I'm addicted to pornography, right? I'm an angry man, I'm a violent man. And I'm saying, okay, you are those things, right? But but stop saying it in such a way that nothing can change, right? That it's your identity. Yeah, exactly. They're identifying themselves as these things.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Well, here's this here's this thing. This guy, everyone knows him as the crippled guy. That's who he is. He's also the guy who gets money for being crippled. Yeah. So if he's not crippled, that changes his income. That changes his identity, that changes everything. And that concept is scary. Yeah. It's scary to contemplate that change. What's it gonna mean for me if I obey God and get up?

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

And Jesus says to him, get up, take up your bed. And he just, with his own authority and power, and by the way, simultaneously, he is holding the universe together while he talks to the crippled guy. He has all the power. Yes. The the Hebrews 1:3 says that he is by him all things consist, and he is holding the universe together all the time. That's the work of Jesus. Right. While he's ministering to our lesser needs, he has all the ability in the world.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Yeah. I I think there's an important kind of a separation to make here as well. Um, you know, if we're people are listening to us and they're sat and they're in a wheelchair or they have some sort of an ailment or things like these, right? What we're not saying is some sort of a prosperity gospel type of a thing is simply just if you have enough faith, you're gonna stand up and walk. Now that's very possible. The Lord can do it, right? That's very possible. Sure he could. But there's also these, these, these, I think of these sins in our lives that we are putting upon ourselves, right? That we just refuse to grasp onto the freedom that God has offered to us in those things, right? Because, like you said, we're comfortable with it, right? And we've gotten comfortable with it. It's what we're used to, like the Israelites, right? And I also think if you're listening to this right now, you all probably have something in your head. I know that I do right now, you probably do right now too. There's those certain things where you go, man, I'm really struggling with this, but I just don't know that I'm okay with completely giving it up. I don't, uh it's unknown. It's scary to me. My life might change, things might change, right? But I mean, really, what we're talking about here is just an unwillingness to let go to certain things and the fear of the unknown. Yeah. But but the beauty is it's it's a fear of the unknown, but we know whose hands it's in, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Yeah, and God's trustworthy in that. The the listener right now doesn't even know what they need. Amen. I don't know what I need. You don't know what you need. This man thought his primary need was to get into the water. Yes. And then maybe his secondary need was to be healed. Maybe if he could even fathom that, Jesus comes by and yes, does heal him, but I'm telling you, Jesus is more concerned with your soul than with your situation. So if you say that there's people in wheelchairs or blind people or crippled people listening to this podcast right now, I want to tell you, your physical ailment is probably not your greatest need. Yeah, amen. So no one else got healed this day. Amen. This guy gets healed immediately. You can read it. John chapter 5, it's verse 1 through 17. It's all right there. But Jesus doesn't heal anybody else. He doesn't say, All right, make a line. I'm gonna He doesn't go around, you know, Benny Hin, you know, whipping people with his, you know, with his tunic. He could have that wasn't the will of God. Right. That wasn't the concern of God on that day. In fact, his Jesus' main concern was for this guy to stop sinning. Yeah. So later on in the passage, they Jesus meets him up again later on. He goes, Hey, stop sinning lest something worse happens to you. Yeah. So, man, the Lord is really concerned on a soul level, much less than he is on a situation level.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Yeah, praise God for that, right? Because what do we need more, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Do we need our real need?

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Exactly. Yeah, the eternal, in the eternal scale things. Do I need to walk more or do I need to rely on him more?

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Do I need to pay my you know my DTE bill? Yes. Is that your most important need? No, it's probably to confess sin. Right. It's probably to obey the word of the Lord. I need to hear a word from the Lord. I think your greater need is to obey the word you've already heard from the Lord. Yes. Right? Yeah. And so that's also very important to note that Jesus does know what our real need is. Now we're like these people. This is a menagerie of misery around this pool of Bethesda. Yeah, misery. I mean, it is a mosaic of pain. Yeah. They are just laid all over like broken pieces of tile in this painting of misery.

unknown 18:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

We're like that. Yeah. But if we're honest, I don't, I don't think any of us truly know what our real need is. Now, if you say to yourself, my need right now is for my heart to align

Identity, Excuses, And The Cost Of Change

SPEAKER_00 18:25

with God's heart, I go, okay, you, I think you got it. I think you got it. But if you're like, man, I just need, I need to, you know, I need to be able to lose 50 pounds and I need to put another 50K in the bank. Right. And I really need to be a better listener to my wife. Yeah, those are good things. Right. You probably need a soul change or a heart change. Because the apostle Paul, he suffered a lot. Jesus suffered a lot. And the father did not see fit to take those things away. Right. So that is what the prosperity gospel says. Right. Oh, you just need to have enough faith. Jesus will walk by and he'll touch you and he'll heal you. That's not apparently the concern of God. Yeah. Paul said, this thorn in the flesh, we don't know what it was exactly physical, emotional, mental, spiritual. And he says, I prayed, take it away, take it away. And then God just says, My grace is sufficient for you. Right. And he goes, Okay, so I'm not going to take you out of the fire, but I'm going to walk in the fire with you. Right. I'm not going to take it away from you, but I'm going to give you care, you know, the ability to carry it, to handle it. People say, Man, I'm in a wheelchair and I want to walk. It might not be God's will for you to walk. Absolutely. In the chosen, which I've enjoyed, there's this great scene between Andrew, and Andrew in the Chosen is portrayed as having a limp. Like he walks with a cane. And he goes, Master, you know, you're out here healing all these people. And I'm like one of your best friends. And you're not healing me. Right? Now, this didn't happen in the scriptures, sure. However, it's this great, beautiful, it answers a great question. And Jesus says to him, Andrew, like I I anybody could get healed and be happy to serve me. But I've not healed you so that you can be happy to serve me while you limp. Okay? And Andrew's like, oh, that doesn't make sense. I wish that didn't make so much sense. I wish he'd go, oh my gosh, I forgot to heal you. That would be great. But he realizes it's not always the will of the Heavenly Father to take away our, you know, rosacea, glaucoma, alopecia, arthritis, gingivitis, all the other itises. Oftentimes God just says, You'll just serve me and I'm gonna bless you while you have chronic pain. And that might be the lot of some of our listeners. And I I I don't know what to say to you other than what Jesus said to the Apostle Paul, that his grace is sufficient for us. His grace is sufficient. And I can tell you this healing is the plan of God, but it doesn't always come in this life. I wish it did. I wish I could really just say, oh, you know, we should just name it, claim it, let's lay hands. I've had people come to my office here and they say, I need you to agree with me because the Bible says if two agree on anything, then the Lord would do it. I'm going, I don't think that's what that means. Oh, wouldn't that be great? Right. I would sell a couple of books. Sometimes the Lord does not heal us physically. Yeah. But he walks with us spiritually. And the healing is gonna come, but it's just not gonna come in this little short vapor of a life.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Yeah, amen. I I I see here when talking about Paul, you know, I'm a big fan of him, and that that simple statement there, right? That my grace is sufficient for you. You have God simply telling Paul that he already has everything that he needs, right? Nothing needs to change, nothing needs to be different, that he has everything that he needs. And you see it throughout scripture where God is always. More concerned with the spiritual need than the physical need. Now you see very interestingly, especially with the works of Jesus, Jesus almost always tends to their physical needs as well. But that's never the greater point. He never heals them and then just says, All right, see you later. Nothing needs to change, right? Right. He always starts with that and then he tends to the spiritual need.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

This one's really unique because he gives the guy what he wants first, but not necessarily what he needs.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

That's true. That is that's a good point.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

I don't think, Tyler, that this guy's gonna be in heaven. Check this out. So if you go to verse 14, afterwards, Jesus finds him in the temple and said to him, Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more lest a worse thing come up unto you. It looks like this happened because of some sin in his life. Yeah, it looked like he brought this on himself. That's why Jesus said, Careful lest something worse happens to you. I mean, he's he's drawn the connection there. And the man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus. He ratted Jesus out, which had made him whole. Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the Sabbath. So this dude's not even a friend. Yeah. Like he's not even a fan. Oh my gosh. Like, okay, so this guy gets healed. Congratulations. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul? And it's like, bro, you sitting there listening to this podcast going, I know what I need. I need Jesus to do A, B, and C. What if God did do A, B, and C and then nothing changed? And you went to hell. Yeah. Wouldn't you rather have A, B, and C unaffected, but your soul converted to Jesus Christ? Yes. I mean, isn't that what he says to the man who is lowered down through the roof by his four friends? First thing he says is, Your sins are forgiven you. They're like, What? You can't forgive sin. He's like, check this out. I'll do something else. More impressive in your mind. Rise up and walk. And the guy and that and that guy, Mark chapter four, you know, that guy's healed, takes up his bed, same kind of thing. But that guy goes

Soul Over Symptoms And Grace Sufficiency

SPEAKER_00 23:55

away converted. This dude gets healed, but is not a friend of Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Yeah, I just I just can't think of anything scarier and anything more depressing almost in the believer's life than to spend our whole life desiring some sort of a physical healing and never getting it while that absolute whole time there was spiritual healing waiting there to be received. What a waste. That's terrifying. What a waste. Father, I need this, I need this, I need this. And the whole time he's sitting there going, You need nothing.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Can you imagine taking really good legs to hell? It's really these legs are awesome. I mean, they're on fire. It's like, but but boy, are they good legs. Right. What a waste. In fact, the Bible says, whatever offends you, you should cut it off. And that was kind of the thing. Like, there's nothing in this physical world worth missing heaven over. Like, oh, what I really need is this physical healing. What we need is a spiritual reckoning. Yeah. A spiritual reformation in our lives. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Well, I mean, you're saying good legs won't matter in hell. And then in the same way that bad legs won't matter in heaven, right? Bro, that's you go through these things, you know. Right. And I mean, it's just that's the fact of the matter here is that God doesn't. And this is so important. And I love this. And this is why I attend this church, because I know our church stands on this, right? But there's things that are more important than just the right here and the right now that I would prosper right now. Right. I'd have more money, I'd have better health, I'd have more friends, I'd be more popular. In the grand scheme of things, none of that matters.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

If you quit hanging out with me, you probably would have more friends.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

I probably would, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

That's probably I'd be happier, be more successful, but I don't know that you'd go to heaven.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Every time I walk through those door, I go, Lord, your grace is sufficient for me. Before I this is your thorn, buddy.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

You know, I just I think it's awesome that Jesus does this for this one guy on an individual basis. And I and I finish with this Sunday, and I just want to say it as we finish here today. Jesus is in the business of changing willing participants. If the guy doesn't listen to Jesus when he says, rise up and walk, if he doesn't straighten out his legs, you know, push up, put one leg underneath you, get into a kneeling position and stand up, the guy's never gonna get healed. Without obedience, there's no healing. I think we can say that here. And so what has God called you to do? Because we do have to, on our end, respond in faith. Amen. The believer is obligated to respond in faith. We don't get to disobey God and expect his blessing in our life. Jesus says, rise up and walk. And this guy does it. He's not even a believer. Okay, I can pretty confidently say that. So, what has God asked you to do that you have not yet done? And it might be, it might be getting covenant eyes on your computer. Right. It might be confessing sin to your pastor or to your spouse. It might be taking some step that you've not taken, and and the Lord's going, I would so heal you if you would willingly participate in this process. Get up. Get up. He Jesus went down spit in the mud and made mud out of his saliva, put it on this blind guy's eyes, which I think is like, that's rude. And then he says, I want you to go down in the river Jordan and wash. Right. And he does it. So he expects something. Even on the blind guy, it's like, well, you can can you lead him down there? Can you point him in the right direction? Same thing with Naaman. Naaman had this leprosy. And Elisha, Elijah goes, Yeah, go wash in the river. Why do I have to do the why can't you just say it and I'll just Jesus did several occasions, just spoke it because he's demonstrating, you obey, and I'll be good. You obey, you be the you be the child and I'll be the father. Yeah. You obey and I'll be the healer.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Yeah, I can simply say this to the believers and the non-believers listening is never once in my life, and I know this is the case for you, I know this is the case for everybody in this room. Never once in my life have I given something over to the Lord. Even the stuff I was nervous to give to him, never have I given it to him and regretted doing that. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

The Lord will not shortchange you. The Lord will not let you fall. He's never gonna take something from you that he's not going to reimburse you for. He's never gonna say, No, give me your old life. And then you'll be left with no life. He's gonna give you a new life in its place. I tell the story that I heard. And it's a true story about a father who tucked his daughter into bed every night. And she was a girly girl. She loved flowery dresses, ballerina type stuff. She loved costume jewelry. She loved tiaras to wear. And she had this pearl necklace that her mother had given her. And it's just costume jewelry, but she loved them. They're pretty. And one night her dad's tucking her in bed. They say their prayers. He lifts her up, puts her in bed, tucks her in, and he says, Do you love me? And she said, Daddy, you know I love you. And he said, Do you love me enough to give me your pearls? And she grasped, she clutched her pearls. And she said, Oh, Daddy, well, you see, you see, these are special pearls to me. Mommy gave me these pearls. I couldn't empower these pearls. And he goes, No, no, that's okay. I'm just, I'm just teasing with you. You know I love you. And he leaves.

Obedience, Real Pearls, And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_00 29:05

All right. Next night, comes in, prays with her, puts her in the bed, tucks her in. He goes, You love me? And she kind of gave him this sideways look and she goes, You know I love you. And he said, You love daddy enough to give me your pearls. She goes, Daddy, I already told you about these are my favorite pearls, and I I love, I don't even take these pearls off in the bathtub. I wear these pearls asleep. I wear these, these are my favorite pearls. Mommy gave me these pearls. He said, I know. I'm just, I just wondered. Just wondered. I love you, Daddy loves you, kisses her. Next night he comes in, they pray, tucks her into bed. And she said, Do you? He said to her, Sweetheart, you know, Daddy loves you. And she said, Yes, I know that. She goes, Do you love Daddy? And she began to cry because she knew what was coming. She knew the question that was coming. And he said, Do you love me enough to give me your pearls? And she just burst out. She said, Daddy, I love you. She goes, You can have my pearls. You can have all the pearls I have. You can have every tiara, you know, because every dad wants tiaras and pearls. And he received her pearls. He took them from her. You know, you'd think, no, you should let her though. Sure. And he pulled a little blue velvet box out of his back pocket and he opened it up and gave her real pearls. Real pearls. That's precious. He replaced her garbage pearls with real pearls. You see, he's never going to take something from us, and he's not also going to give us the better thing in return. And I just wonder if the listener would be willing to turn loose of those old, fake, inconsequential, unsubstantial, unfulfilling pearls. You know what I'm talking about. Because I can tell you, when the Lord asks you for those things, he's always got a blue velvet box in his back pocket of the real deal. And you're only shortchanging ourselves when we hold on to what we think is valuable, what we think is important. This is my pool of Bethesda. I need to be here for when this is my only hope. This is where I get healed. This is where I get enjoyment. And the Lord has so much better for us when He says, Will you give me your pearls? He's got something better. And I just want to close this today in a word of prayer and a word of consecration, maybe a word of confession for the costume jewelry we've been wearing that we really need to we need to defork it over. We need to get rid of it. Lord Jesus, forgive us for our value that we've placed on fake pearls, for you know, deluding ourselves into thinking that we have what's important that didn't come from you. So, God, we need to confess sin. The Bible says if we will confess it, you will be faithful and just to forgive it and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Or do I want to be like the man at the pool in one way that when you say get up and walk, that we obey you and get up? But I don't want to be like him in a sense that I'm just here for the physical. I want Jesus. I don't want just what comes out of his hand. I want what comes out of his heart. And so, Lord, would you forgive us today for shortchanging you, for cheapening this walk with you, thinking that we know and we don't. Lord, would you would you help us to be so concrete in our hope, concrete in our confession? Help us to be reminded today, Lord, that all the good things come from you. In your precious and sovereign and all powerful name we pray. Amen.